The people of Shanshui Village are now full of questions.
However, one thing is certain: the official's wife is not as simple as they thought!
Repaying a debt of gratitude?
That sounds nice, but I have no idea what they're really up to.
Sang Rou looked at Shui Qing and called out breathlessly, "Sister~"
Shui Qing felt a chill run down her spine as she listened to the deliberately drawn-out tone. She reminded him, "You and Governor Ling were childhood sweethearts. Governor Ling is several years older than me. Perhaps I'm not the older sister?"
The women of Shanshui Village, who had previously been unaware of Ling Ran's true nature as their stepmother, now understood perfectly well!
Childhood sweetheart, a younger brother about the same age as Ling Ran, married after Ling Ran's mother passed away... Well, anyone who isn't stupid can understand this, right?
No wonder Ling Ran, a perfectly good son of an official, ended up in their remote and impoverished mountain village, making a living by doing manual labor!
Despite their poverty, the people of Shanshui Village were exceptionally discerning about their wives and mistresses. They felt that Ling Ran's father was no saint either, otherwise, how could Ling Ran, the eldest son born to his legal wife, have been left outside for over a year without being reunited with his family?
Sang Rou sensed the obvious change in the gazes around her. Even with makeup, she couldn't hide the flushed and pale face. She took a deep breath and looked at Shui Qing with displeasure in her eyes: "Are you Hu Shui Qing?"
Shui Qing: .....It's fine if you don't pretend, at least it doesn't make your hair stand on end.
This is not Li Huyu. She has no problem with her stepmother, but she has a lot of problems with Ling Ran's vicious stepmother who wanted to kill him, and she can't address her as an older sister.
"Yes, Madam Ling, what brings you here today?"
Sang Rou forced a smile, "I heard from the people around the master that you saved the eldest son of the Ling family. As his mother, I had to come here in person to thank you."
Shui Qing focused on the key point: if it was someone close to Ling Ce who said that Ling Ce hadn't told her about this, was it because he thought it was a trivial matter and didn't need to be mentioned, or was he simply unwilling or wary of her?
Since someone close to Ling Ce would speak to her, it means she has informants. No wonder Ling Ce can't defeat this stepmother.
But I wonder how much she knows?
"Madam Ling, you're too kind. We just wanted to find someone to work and give them food. We didn't really want to help them; it was just a coincidence." She didn't think it was a sincere expression of gratitude.
He probably cursed her a thousand times in his heart!
Sang Rou wasn't there to express her gratitude; she had something more important to say: "Ling Ran is, after all, the eldest son of the Ling family. It's not appropriate for him to stay here with you all the time. So please call him out, and I, as his mother, will take him back with me."
Shui Qing immediately understood that the informant Sang Rou had bribed around Ling Ce wasn't very close to him; at least Ling Ce hadn't told him that Ling Ran wasn't actually with her.
It's good that she doesn't know. If she doesn't know Ling Ran's whereabouts, she won't be able to send someone to harm him.
Shui Qing smiled brightly and said, half-jokingly, "It's not here with me. I don't know where it went."
Aunt Li quietly moved to the outermost edge, beckoned to the children, and whispered, "Go, go to the fields and call over some young and strong men, the more the better!"
After the two attacks on the village, the children were no longer the ignorant children they once were. They were even more sensitive than adults, and upon hearing Aunt Li's words, a bad feeling immediately arose in their minds.
They took off running, rushing quickly towards the fields outside the village where there were more people.
They were afraid that if they ran too slowly, Aunt Shuiqing would be bullied by outsiders.
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